1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a scanner that reads an image recorded on a document, and to an image forming apparatus having the scanner.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional image forming apparatus 10. The conventional image forming apparatus 10 may be a multifunctional printer which works as both a printer for printing an image recorded on a sheet of paper and a scanner for reading an image recorded on a document. The conventional image forming apparatus 10 includes a scanner 20 for performing an image reading function and a printer 30 for performing a print function. The scanner 20 is provided on a top side of the conventional image forming apparatus 10, and the printer 30 is provided under the scanner 20. The printer 30 includes an input tray 22 where sheets of paper may be loaded for use during the print function, and an output tray 25 where sheets of paper having printed images are output from the printer 30. The scanner 20 includes a document feeding plate 12 where documents to be read by the scanner 20 are stacked for auto document feed (ADF), a document output plate 14 where the read (i.e., scanned) documents are stacked, and a plurality of rollers (not shown) that transfer the documents along a predetermined transfer path from the document feed plate 12 to the document output plate 14.
The document feed plate 12, the document output plate 14, and the rollers are provided on a flatbed 11. The flatbed 11 is capable of opening and closing and is installed on an upper side of the image forming apparatus 10. Thus, a size and thickness of the flatbed 11 increase so that it is difficult to make the image forming apparatus 10 compact. Also, due to the large size and heavy weight of the flatbed 11, it may be difficult for a weak person to operate the image forming apparatus 10 and the cost for transferring increases.